Tamiya Honda Monkey 1/6th
This article is part of a series:
Honda Monkey (Z Series) mini bike, 40th Anniversary addition.
Tamiya's Honda Monkey, 1/6th scale, it was called the Monkey because of the way the rider looked on it, arms an legs seemingly hanging out all over.
I bought the kit because I was fascinated with it and my uncle had one way back and I loved it then.
This was a fun kit and a great winter project this January. Painted with Tamiya Italian Red spray, tank with Tamiya bright red.
I floated Tamiya Clear red in the tank badges and set it aside for about 36 hours to dry as the clear seems to stay tacky for quite some time especially when applied this thick.
The bike itself had many custom accessories that could be purchased and added by the rider. This kit came with 2 carburetor versions and 3 muffler/exhaust versions. I assembled the version I didn't use just for fun and are pictured in the last slide. Second to the last slide shows it with it's bug Daddy the Honda 750 Police bike 🙂
I hope everyone enjoys viewing this fun kit as I did building it. If you want a great diversion I highly recommend this kit.
Enjoy, Cricket aka Bike Queen 😉
A wonderful result, Cricket! A lovable motorcycle, one that has accompanied us when we were kids.
Well done!
My brother and I had one in the 70’s. We never called it a Monkey. It was a Honda 50 to us.
@angus64 Hi Jim, yes it was the Honda 50, somewhere along the way it was nicknamed the Monkey, thanks for your comment
It sure was fun!
What a great build of a funny bike, Cricket @bikequeen
I do remember those but they were not that much used overhere.
Hey John, there wasn't much call them here either, not back then. My uncle had to have every new toy that became available then 😉
A nice very clean build Cricket. Looks ready to take for a ride. You did a great job getting it all together so clean, well done!
Great to see it here, Cricket, and it’s obvious to see how much you enjoyed building this little Monkey.
Very Fun.
I used to ride a Honda DAX in Belgium for a while.
Fun, 3 speed automatic clutch. Did great wheelies !
I looked like a « Monkey on a Grinding wheel « on it. Silly but fun.
@bernardbedeur Thank you Bernard! You mean like this? I built the DAX too, but I dont have any progress shots, it sits in front of the Honda Africa Twin 🙂
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Yes ! European models were slightly different I believe. Not sure but I remember loading it up in a car . There was some part that could fold if I am not mistaken.
On the Monkey the handle bars folded down, it really was very tiny and could easily fit in a car trunk. One did fold in half, but i dont remeber which one
Looks terrific, Cricket @bikequeen. What’s the story with seat? Did you fabricate it? Beyond realistic. Very cool.
Stock seat, buffed out with a cloth and details painted on, thanks Eric
Great job Cricket... looks as cool as they were in the day. There are a number of beautifully restored versions from original Monkey bikes in South Africa and they are highly sought after here and fetch really good prices.
Used ones sell here for 4 to 5 thousand dollars! Crazy, but I wish I had one now with fuel prices the way they are…thanks for your comment Rory
Another great motorcycle model! Really like the shot next to it's "big brother". To give people an idea of how useful these bikes still are, not too long ago was running errands and saw this one (CT70) parked outside of a grocery store.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
I live in a sm all town and would love to have one just to knock around in :). Thanks for the pic 🙂
Nice work on this. One of my neighbors has a very similar Honda that he still uses.
@j-healy thank you John
Great to see - I used to ride one of these as a teenager!